San Cristobal menos 2

This weekend Allie and I went to drop off our bags in Antigua to Juancho's house, had ridiculously expensive bagels and bought an extensive amount of chocolate in the 2 hours between the two 3.5 hour bus rides to and back from Antigua, and we also got to see Colleen. She gave us a really interesting lengthy article from the New Yorker that I started but haven't finished. It's about lawyer that made a video before being murdered saying that if he died it was because of the guatemalan president. If you're up for reading 15 pages on this really interesting course of events, it's a pretty riveting read, so here's the link: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_grann

I've been pretty stressed out for the past two days for stuff that's been going on in the office and the awkwardness of leaving, doing poorly in salsa class, and the family being real stingy about toilet paper, internet, and the house, but everything is going to be alright because I made banana-peach crumbles for everyone. I was supposed to meet with Valeria but then her son got chicken pox. I think the universe just doesn't want us to meet. But she asked me if I wanted a recommendation letter and she'd gladly write one, she also thanked me profusely for the work I did, complimenting me enthusiastically on it. Hurray!

Also yesterday night Allie and Kate and I went to see a movie here called Amores Perros. It's a really good mexican film about dog fights, the degradation of stagnating lives, and the contrast between ruthlessness and sensibility within human beings. Several stories intertwine and connect through the coincidence of time and people's relationships to dogs.

We're leaving Xela Thursday morning, and I'm very excited about exploring the Chiapas region of Mexico. I started reading articles Adelaide copied for us from the Zapatista reader, all about the history and struggle of the indigenous people living there and the semi-successful revolution that occured, I'm stoked to see where it all happened!

Here is a tentative itinerary, subject to change and variations obviously, of our expedition to Mexico and Belize:

April 21 to 27 - San Cristobal de las Casas: visit to Cañon Sumidero, Acteal (massacre site), Oventic (Zapatista community open to foreigners), San Juan Chamula (indigenous pueblo near San Cristobal), talk with a teacher from CIDECI, the indigenous education center.

April 27 to 28 - overnight 17hour bus ride to Cancun, and boat to Isla Holbox

April 28 to May 1st - Chill in Isla Holbox, snorkel, beach...

May 1 to 3 - Tulum: visit ruins!

May 3 to 6 - Sartaneja: jungle, mangrove, cenotes (caves) trips

May 6 to 8 - Hopkins Village: Garifuna culture, learn some garifuna drumming, taste their cultural dishes, chill in the fishing village, possible take a snorkel trip

May 8 to 9 - travel back to Antigua

May 9 to 11 - Antigua and Earth Lodge: bagels, chocolate, indian store, and more antigua gringo goodies, and wishing we had more time

May 12 - Plane to Miami at 7 am, regreso a Nueva York a las 5 de la noche.

Ay ay ay, que rapido pasa el tiempo...